Mrs. Davis review: Bizarre, shaggy, funny, meta, and surprisingly profound
An ace Betty Gilpin stars in Peacock's timely, genre-defying AI series from Damon Lindelof
TV Reviews Davis
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: A cowboy, a nun, and her mother go on a quest to destroy the Holy Grail. Along the way, they encounter a secret society of militant lady bankers, Schrödinger’s cat, a sneaker-hoarding priest, and the Prime Minister of Spain. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Mrs. Davis, Peacock’s freewheeling series from Damon Lindelof and Tara Hernandez that premieres April 20, takes the overused term “genre-defying” and turns it into a meta-commentary on the nature of faith, personal mythology, and the singularity. It brings to mind dozens of influences, among them Indiana Jones, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, Moby-Dick, and The Da Vinci Code. Bizarre, shaggy, funny, and surprisingly profound, Mrs. Davis isn’t a show so much to be described as experienced. Still, we’ll try our best.
The premise couldn’t be timelier: In a world much like our own, an omnipotent artificial intelligence called Mrs. Davis has wormed its way into the lives of most everyone on Earth. Users claim that she—or, depending on whom you talk to, it—has effectively eliminated war, famine, and all other strife, creating a quasi-utopian society free from doubt. Its detractors, however, see the AI as an insidious force robbing humanity of privacy, free will, and faith in the unknown.
Chief among Mrs. Davis’ haters is Sister Simone (Betty Gilpin, clearly having the time of her life), a nun living in a ramshackle convent on the outskirts of Reno. In her spare time, she hunts down rogue stage magicians on horseback and pays regular visits to a sweet-natured mystery man named Jay (Andy McQueen).
She avoids Mrs. Davis like the plague, believing the AI is responsible for the death of her father (David Arquette). But Simone finds her life turned upside down when the algorithm, speaking by proxy via her many followers, makes her an offer too tempting to refuse: Find and destroy the Holy Grail, and the AI will shut itself down for good.
At the same time, Simone’s old flame Wiley (Jake McDorman) swans back into her life. Simone and Wiley’s journey will take them from Reno to England to Italy to the high seas, never certain whether they’re on an actual quest or being drawn into what amounts to a live-action RPG by the various factions they encounter along the way.
A plot this twisty and weird is to be expected from Lindelof, the man behind what-the-fuck classics Lost, Watchmen, and The Leftovers. What’s surprising is that Mrs. Davis is the brainchild of Hernandez, whose previous credits amount to nearly 200 episodes of The Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon. And thank god she’s gotten the chance to give her considerable imaginative talent free rein.
Mrs. Davis couldn’t be further from the mainstream, basic humor of those CBS sitcoms. For one, the series isn’t afraid to bewilder and shock viewers, going from rollicking fun to dark, complicated reflection. For another, it’s actually funny—hilarious, in fact. In the vein of Shaun Of The Dead and What We Do In The Shadows, Lindelof and Hernandez’s series clearly loves the genres it’s parodying, from Westerns to heist movies to religious parables.
But it’s also deeply committed to taking the wind out of the sails at every turn; think of that Raiders Of The Lost Ark scene where Indy shoots the guy with the scimitar mid-flourish. (“I know what you’re thinking,” one of the many super-intense people Simone encounters on her quest says after handing her a dangerous mission. “I have to pee first?” she replies.)
Mrs. Davis couldn’t have found a more perfect lead than Gilpin, who has been outspoken about the lack of interesting, thorny roles for conventionally attractive actresses. Anyone who’s seen her memorable turn in Netflix’s gone-too-soon GLOW or Apple TV+’s flawed-but-fascinating Roar knows that Gilpin is one of the most audacious, interesting actors working today. Her line deliveries are always surprising, and she can move from detached sarcasm to very real tears at the drop of a wimple. In Mrs. Davis, she’s called upon to make those rapid emotional shifts time and again, and she never fails to deliver. Simone is a fun, ballsy, wry character whose breezy detachment conceals a deep sense of faith and purpose—plus some heavy childhood trauma.
The series wisely pairs her with heavyweights Elizabeth Marvel as Simone’s withholding mom and Margo Martindale as the mother superior of Our Lady Of The Immaculate Valley. Among the many themes Mrs. Davis explores is the complexity of mother-daughter relationships, whether that mother is biological, spiritual, or algorithmic. As Celeste, Marvel plays the formidable archetype of the toxic mother with equal parts imperious passive-aggression and carefully concealed regret. Martindale is the other side of the coin as Simone’s patient, loving surrogate mom who nonetheless isn’t afraid to get frank.
McQueen and McDorman are equally polarized as Simone’s two love interests; though, as Wiley shouts after her at one point, “I’m not the love interest! You’re the love interest!” Jay is all placid benevolence mixed with natural sex appeal, and McQueen (Station Eleven) plays him as a man for whom both seduction and devotion come easily.
McDorman (The Right Stuff), meanwhile, is dancing as hard as he can to prove to both Simone and himself that he’s a fearless, dependable macho man. But really, he’s just playing dress-up—never clearer than when he’s chanting his resistance group’s hilarious mantra, “You’re a big, strong boy, everybody loves you, you’re never gonna die.” McDorman is charming as hell, and he and Gilpin share a crackling love-hate chemistry in the vein of Harrison Ford and Karen Allen in Raiders or Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in The Mummy.
Wiley’s underground resistance sends up the kind of masculine insecurity that has its seeds in everything from Fight Club to the men’s rights movement. At any given moment in the group’s secret HQ, there are a handful of dudes in the background deadlifting, amping each other up, or delighting in the high-tech gadgetry they use on missions as if they were playing with G.I. Joes.
Perhaps the funniest character in the show is JQ, Wiley’s hunky right-hand man with an allergy to shirts. Chris Diamantopoulos (Silicon Valley) plays JQ with such performative machismo and little-boy glee that you can’t help but love him. Elsewhere, Ben Chaplin balances out the series’ madcap vibes with calm, world-weary energy as a scientist living on a desert island.
Mrs. Davis is a pungent flavor, and we have a hunch many viewers will find its sugar-rush energy and overstuffed plot off-putting. The series is bursting with so many ideas, characters, and locales that it sometimes threatens to topple under its own weight. But don’t worry—this isn’t Lost. This time around, Lindelof has a plan, and come the season finale, he and Hernandez tie up the loose ends in ways that are both existentially profound and very, very silly.
If Everything Everywhere All At Once’s recent Oscars sweep has proven anything, it’s that we’re living in an age of maximalist entertainment, when the barriers are crumbling between so-called “serious” screenwork and weird, trippy fun. And if that brings us more shows like Mrs. Davis, thank algorithmic god for it.
Mrs. Davis premieres April 20 on Peacock.
40 Comments
Sold! This sounds awesome, and I am definitely looking forward to Gilpin getting another shot to do something really fun and strange.
It’s worth noting that Gilpin starred in The Hunt, which Lindelof co-wrote.
Which also starred Ike Barinholtz, who was in the live All in the Family, which also featured … Kevin Bacon! (Is this the game we were playing?)
That’s where I know her from. It’s been bugging me this whole season.
Lindelof has definitely written both hits and misses, but he’s certainly capable and I think overall his hits far outweigh his misses. I’ll check this one out, hoping it’s more like ‘Watchmen’ or ‘The Leftovers’ than ‘Cowboys & Aliens’.
I never know how much to blame the writing for a movie or show that doesn’t work. A script is only a blueprint. If a studio or director or producer flubs the translation, it’s hard to hold Lindelof accountable.
Agreed. It’s worth noting that in addition to writing the script, Lindelof was executive producer on Watchmen and The Leftovers but also on two turds, Star Trek Into Darkness and Prometheus. To me, the story was definitely the weak point in both Star Trek and Prometheus, but it’s hard to say how much of the story was ultimately molded by the big studios behind these movies. He may have had much more freedom writing Watchmen and The Leftovers. I guess this is just my long way of saying I’ll check it out because of Lindelof but there’s no guarantee it will be good just because he is involved. I can’t think of any writer who has only created winners actually. Even Craig Mazin, who wrote what I think is the best miniseries ever, Chernobyl, also wrote the worst Hangover movie…Lindelof also wrote the screenplay for World War Z, which I actually really like as a generic zombie movie when you ignore the fact that it has almost no connection to the novel (which is great by the way.)
Coming from someone who used outright hate Lindelof (ugh Lost) he has earned my respect with Watchmen (and its podcast) and Leftovers. He’s clearly capable of learning from past mistakes.
Prometheus was not a turd. It was a good movie.
Agree. I love the movie.
turd
I am a big fan of Lindelof’s work, from Lost (I know, imperfect but so much fun), to The Leftovers (I know, so self-serious but also so profound), and Watchmen (if you are going to mess with Alan Moore you better make it meaningful and tongue-in-cheek silly). Mrs. Davis takes a lot of Lindelof’s preoccupations (the place of faith and religion in the modern world, pop culture references) to a whole new level. It asks serious questions but it doesn’t take itself seriously. Wrote more about it in my substack page Religion in Popular Culture. https://open.substack.com/pub/manulopez/p/mrs-davis-episode-101-recap-mother?r=2buies&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
I enjoyed Lost, but found the finale both deeply moving and deeply dissatisfying at the same time. The emotional payoff was there, but the explanation of how it happened (such as it was) was poor.But I loved The Leftovers, which definitely goes into my personal top ten shows of all time, and have been enjoying Mrs Davis so far. It’s such a mishmash of bizarre (but enjoyable) concepts and plotlines, it could all fall apart in the end but I’m willing to cut Lindelof some slack, so I’m along for the ride.
Totally thought she was the robot dressing as different humans hunting other robots. Kind of like Murder She Wrote meets Quantum Leap meets Mr. Robot meets The Equalizer.
I see NBC hasn’t lost it’s ability to create outlandish shows. The Neo-Luddism, the religious imagery conquering science and cowboy pastiche is purposeful in catering to a certain sector of America. Gotta’ get that ad revenue! Yeehaw!
I too was like “how is a BBT/YS writer working with the king of fiercely unique TV”? Part of that is my own ingrained snobbery. The truth is, I think anyone with 200 or so episodes of TV under their belt must be a master of form and likely had a lot of untapped story ideas building up over the years. And if ever there was a time to do an AI show, it’s now. In 6 months the rapid development of tech could render AI projects nearly impossible to keep ahead of the curve. Hopefully this can fill the Leftovers-shaped hole in my life!
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It makes sense. Lindelof is the least auteurly auteur ever, and loves the TV form. The Leftovers and Watchmen are unashamedly TV shows, and the better for it. Station 11, hyped on the strength of its Leftovers connection was trying so desperately to “transcend the form” it was painful to watch.
I loved Station 11 — the airport episode is one of my favorite standalone episodes in years — but I totally take your point. He truly is a TV-centric creator.
I was so primed to love that show, and there were great performances and production, but I think what stuck in my craw was the underlying snobbery. Heh heh, the dumb rednecks all killed each other and only the literate elite thrive. Also, are theater kids really that good at horse wrangling, and welding harnesses to old trucks? And why the fuck, in post epidemic Chicago would people be competing for space in high-rises? There’d be thousands of homes in Oak Park and Lincoln Park with fireplaces right for the taking. Lol, and how many people did dude kill by impersonating a doctor? Yeah, I’m still mad.
I was raised in church and attended religious school. There were no nuns who looked like Betty Gilpin.
Next you’re going to tell me Night Court got it wrong with Sister Sara Williams.
And Night Court got it wrong with Sister Sara Williams.
Next thing you going to do is give me $100.
I’ll give you 100 Turkish lira.
*sighsFine.
But did any look like Sally Field or Julie Andrews?
Assuredly not.
What do you mean? Every Halloween I see plenty of nuns just as hot walking around.
How about Audrey Hepburn?
“Even Audrey Hepburn went to the bathroom!”
I’m glad you liked it, but based on the description, this sounds exhausting. I really wish everything wasn’t so “high-concept” and gimmicky these days.
A cowboy, a nun, and her mother go on a quest to destroy the Holy Grail.Isn’t this the plot to Preacher Season 3?
Favorite Betty Gilpin line reading? I’m partial to American Gods “Get out of my house, you zombie whore!”
from GLOW: “Do you like my little slut ukulele?”
I was just thinking about that. There were a lot of changes in the TV version of ‘American Gods’ I disliked, but Audrey was a character who was very much improved (and elevated by Gilpin’s performance).
Amongst her other talents, Betty Gilpin does great “under the influence” acting. The scene in ‘GLOW’ where she drunkenly sells all her stuff was very convincing.
has been outspoken about the lack of interesting, thorny roles for conventionally attractive actressesUm. Wot? I think I’ve only seen her in Gaslit (she was very good) so no idea of her acting range. But this paraphrase seems to be missing context.
I mean: I get that interesting roles for women are far outstripped by demand.
That’s always been a given, until women started producing for themselves.
But does she think conventionally unattractive actors are getting the lion’s share?
Is ‘conventionally attractive” code for size 8 with a waist-to-bust ratio more prevalent in movies from the 40’s?
Or is the descriptive acknowledgement that some might describe her prettiness as rather bland? (From Gaslit I’d class her in the “Barbara Stanwyk” category – pert and feisty. Oversimplifying: the taller, 30’s version of a mani-pixie-etc.)
I really love the show. Most of Lindelof’s work has been preoccupied with the exploration of the place that faith and belief have in an increasing technological society (the tension between Jack and John in Lost), parent’s issues (Lost again), religion (The Leftovers). This show really goes for broke though and talks about serious issues without taking itself seriously at all. I wrote more about the show here https://open.substack.com/pub/manulopez/p/mrs-davis-episode-103-recap-a-baby?r=2buies&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Are you sure the line wasn’t, “I should have peed first?” instead of, “I have to pee first?” I think the joke is based on the fact that the presentation seemed to go on forever.
This feels like an idea that was snuck past the goalie. This must have looked like MADNESS on paper! How the hell did this get green lit!?! But best of all- end up as GOOD as it is? While also being nuanced and emotional as it is. LOVE IT.